Chapter 6
 

    Zanto's mind whirled during the entire two-hour ride home.  There were still blanks, huge empty spaces in his memory.  But he was convinced he remembered everything about the most important piece of his life – her.

Blue eyes shone with silent tears.  A decorated sheet of paper sat in her lap. "But, why did you join the Preventers? You don't have to fight anymore…"

"Because I promised to protect you, Relena." He reached and wiped away a tear. "Always."

    He felt his heart scream at the memory. How long had it been?  The accident? Was that the last time he had seen her? Or had something occurred before? He didn't yet understand all that had happened to him.

    But he did know one thing for certain: his father had been telling him lies.

    Zanto pulled into the driveway. The house was dark inside and out.  It was ten o'clock, but his father was usually still awake at this time. He frowned as he got out and made his way to the door.

    "Father?" Was the man even really his father? "Hasado?" He received no answer.  Zanto checked the garage; the car was gone. Could he have anticipated his son's return and escaped? Zanto moved to the rear of the house to inspect Hasado's bedroom. 

    Everything was in order. It looked like his father had just gone out. But where? And why? When would he get back?

    Zanto walked back into the living room and settled into the couch. However long it took… He would wait.

    Some minutes later, Zanto flipped on the television in the darkness. He had figured, at first, that his dad had perhaps run out to the store and would be back right away. When the clock struck eleven, however, he figured he might be in for a longer wait.

    The darkened set sprang to life. "—that's not always the case. In other news, a press conference held earlier today in Brussels announced that Preventer brass had officially closed the investigation into the April 16^th attack that destroyed the original headquarter building, killing more than fifty officers and wounding hundreds more who were trapped inside."

She studied her hands in her lap. "I-I've been thinking a lot lately, and well, I'd like to know if....."

"You want to know where things stand between us, and you wish to discuss things privately in hopes that we can be open with each other."

    The scene changed on the television screen to the replay of an earlier press conference. A man with long blond hair in dress uniform came on screen. 

    "Zechs…." The name escaped Zanto's lips before the titles even appeared on the footage:  Major General Milliardo "Zechs Merquise" Peacecraft, head of the Preventer Organization.

    "Today, we have closed the book on a tragic moment…"

    The replay skipped to a clip later in the segment. "We believe that Kyle McVeigh acted alone in the bombing of April 16, AC 197."

The sun was shining, and he felt his heart lighten as he walked through the parking lot to his office.  He couldn't meet Relena to go on their morning run, but tonight…. Tonight, he'd finally get to—

"Is your name Heero Yuy?" A man's voice called out from behind him. 

He paused. "Who are you?" 

"I'm looking for a man who goes by the name Heero Yuy.  He's a Preventer here? Y-you look like…"

"Who are you?"

"I…I'm your father."

    The ground shook underneath the building. Alarms wailed on every floor, screaming at the occupants to get to safety. The video footage panned out to the front of the old Preventer building as it began to collapse.

He tackled the man to the ground and shielded Hasado with his body.  Debris rained down in a fine sprinkle of concrete and dust.  When the ground stopped trembling, he got up.  His father dusted himself off and gained his feet.    

"That was quick thinking. You…Zanto?"

He glanced over at the ailing building. Agents, civilians, friends were still inside. "I have to go."

"Go where? Inside? But you'll die!"

"I can't leave them trapped inside. Not if I can save them."

"Don't! Not when I just found you. Zanto! Wait!"

    He couldn't remember what happened. Just the smell of smoke and ash, the sight of blood… Too many dead already. Not enough time to rescue those remaining. Zanto felt his chest restrict at the memory. He shook his head and shot up from the couch. He had been there. He hadn't been in a any car accident. 

    It was all another lie.

"Heero." A loud sob escaped her trembling lips.

"Heero…" Her voice whispered his name like it was a prayer.

"Is your name Heero Yuy?"

    "Relena…."

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    Heero's eyes snapped open. The sound of a key rattling the lock repeated itself an instant before the door swung open. How long had he been asleep?

    "Zanto?" Hasado's voice called out from the foyer. His footsteps sounded against the tile, and grew closer. "Zanto?"

    "That's not my name," Heero said. He stared into the darkness.

    "Oh thank God, you're all right. When Kira called and told me…" Hasado flipped the switch on the overhead light. "Zanto?"

    "I said, that's not my name."

    "Wh-what…? What are you—"

    Heero stood up from the couch and turned to glare at his father. "You knew, all along. Who I was, where I belonged. And you kept it from me."

    "Zanto, I…"

    "My name is Heero Yuy. I am a member, I was a member, of the Preventers, charged with guarding and protecting the Vice Foreign Minister." He held his father's gaze and silently dared the older man to contradict him.

    "No, you're name is Zanto, and you are my son. That's the name your mother and I gave you." Blue eyes a similar color to his own stared back.

    "I don't recognize that name as my own."

    He stepped forward, his arms held out with his palms facing up. "So, the deceased Colony leader, Heero Yuy, that name is more real than the one on your birth certificate? The one your parents gave you?" Hasado said in a loud voice.

    Heero crossed his arms. "I don't call spending three years lying to me being a parent."

    "I did it for your own good."

    Heero's scowl deepened. "My own good. I don't suppose it matters to you that you've kept me from the woman I--"

    Hasado's face contorted. "That woman didn't even skip a beat when you died."

    "You're lying." Heero's voice dropped to a low, dangerous growl. "I saw her today. She's still wearing a broken piece of jewelry around her neck because it was mine."

    "She didn't care! She didn't do a damn thing to save you." His face was red and his voice sounded angry. "And now…now she's engaged to some aristocratic son of a politician - the only type of man she would have ever been with. Do you think she even remembers you?"

    Heero closed his eyes and bowed his head. "Yes.  I know she does. Just like you couldn't make me forget her."

    "I saved your life when all she did was keep you down." Hasado's voice continued to rise. "Look at you! You're getting a college education; you're so intelligent, so young. You can still have a normal life!'

    Heero's head shot up. "I liked the life I had. The life you took away!"

    "But I…I wanted something better for you than that. Don't you see? I wanted to save you--"

    "I don't remember you saving me from being the emotionless automaton I was trained to be." Heero turned away. "Where were you then?"

    "I-I didn't—"

    "Nowhere. Because you abandoned me. You said she didn't save me that day, you're right. She saved me a long time before."

"I do…believe in you."

"Don't ask me not to worry for you…"

    "You dragged a body out of the rubble that wasn't your son and then tried to make him live in your fucked up dream world. She…" Heero shook his head. His father obviously didn't understand, didn't know everything about his past. And he wasn't about to explain it. He started down the hallway to the room that had been 'his' for the last three years.

    "Zanto, look at me…."

    Heero paused but didn't turn around. "I came to tell you that I was leaving. I'll be gone first thing in the morning."
 

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    No matter how hard Relena tried to busy herself with other thoughts, her mind kept drifting back to the young man from the lecture hall. Her heart beat with excitement over how much he looked like Heero. There was no doubt in the young man's identity, especially after he told her his name. The thought of Heero having a brother, possibly a twin, was thrilling and yet looking at him had been so difficult… Her heart ached at the confusion in his eyes.  Heero, her Heero was supposed to recognize her, smile and tell her he had returned and was so sorry for worrying her.

    'He's not Heero.' She reminded herself for the hundredth time. 'He's Zanto, Heero's brother.'  She nodded and reached for her pendant. 'Heero, I wish you could have met him. He seems so much like you. I'm already glad I met him. My only regret is that you never knew, that we weren't able to locate your family while you were alive.'

    "We've arrived Miss Relena."

    Relena stirred from her thoughts and nodded to the driver. She slowly reached for the small box beside her. It held what little of Heero's possessions that she thought his father might want to have.

    She waited patiently for Wufei to open the door, but when there was no sound of movement from the position he had held for the past two hours, she glanced over at him. His eyes were closed beneath a pinched brow, and his head bowed over crossed arms. "Is there something wrong, Wufei?"

    "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

    "Why do you ask that?"

    "What if this man could care less about what you have to say? What if his son, if Yuy even was his son, meant nothing and still means nothing to him?"

    Relena turned to face the Chinese Preventer.Wufei looked up, his posture stiff, and his eyes blazing. 'Why is he getting upset?'

    Wufei knew that since she and Quatre started the whole Child Light Foundation she had been looking for any family Heero may have left behind.  It was a  stroke of sheer luck that Quatre had found Heero's father.

    Relena folded her hands in her lap. "I have to do this. Not for Heero, but for myself." She stared down at the diamond ring on her left hand, and had to blink back tears. "I'm ready to move on with David and this is the only way I can let go."

    She swallowed, and fought the urge to cry. "Don't get me wrong, I'll always have a place for Heero in my heart." She paused and took a calming breath. "But I can't keep holding onto nothing." She glanced up and met his stare. "It's killing me, Wufei. I'm…I'm not strong enough to feel so alone and pretend it doesn't matter. I loved him, but…."

    Wufei reached over and wiped a tear from her cheek. Brown eyes softened, and the corners of his mouth turned up." I understand."

    Without anything more spoken between them, Wufei opened the door to the limo and stepped out into the early afternoon sun. He stared at the modest home for a moment before moving aside to allow Relena to step out behind him.

    The neighborhood was filled with children's laughter. An elderly woman and her dog passed in front of them, turning to smile at the young couple. Relena smiled warmly at the lady as she adjusted the box in her arms. Wufei closed the door to the limo and then led the way to the front door of the house.

    Relena's hands started to sweat and her knees shook ever so slightly as she knocked on the door. 'Calm.  I must remain calm. Why am I so nervous? I've faced much worse situations than this.'

    'But never without him by your side,' a traitorous corner of her mind shot back.

    Her smile wobbled when the door opened a short time later to reveal the man she assumed had to be the one she had come to see. "Mr. Yoshida?"

    The man nodded. She extended one hand and tried to balance the small box in the other. "Hello I'm Relena Dar--"

    "I know who you are, Miss Darlian." She blinked and he looked like he was trying not to laugh. He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

    "I'd have to be a fool not to recognize the former Queen of the World. Although I have to admit that I'm a bit confused as to why you're standing on my doorstep."

    "I came here to talk to you about your son, Mr. Yoshida."

    "Oh?" The laughter fell from his eyes, and his face lost some of its color. "Why don't you both come in? And please, call me Hasado." Hasado Yoshida held the door open to allow Relena and Wufei to enter his home.

    After he closed the door and ushered them into his living room, Relena noticed Mr. Yoshida's gaze wandered down the hallway, as if lost in thought. He shook his head, then turned and addressed no one in particular.

    "Is there anything that I can get for you?"

    "No, thank you." Relena smiled as she took a seat and laid the box next to her.

    Heero's father glanced at Wufei, and the foreign minister saw the Chinese Preventer give him a strange look in response.  

    "So, what has Zanto done this time? Hopefully it wasn't something to get him in trouble with the Preventers." Hasado smiled and laced his fingers together in front of him.

    "Zanto?" Relena looked down at the coffee table. She folded her hands together and unfolded them a second later. She shifted in her seat. "Zanto, is your son in college, right?"   

    "Yes. I'm very proud of my son. He's studying molecular biology."

    The young diplomat stopped fidgeting with her hands and steered herself forward; she had to do this. Relena reached for the box, holding it tightly in her hands as she moved it from the seat next to her to a position sitting on her lap. "Mr. Yoshida, I did come here to talk to you about your son, but I'm not speaking of Zanto."

    "I'm afraid I don't understand."

    Relena slowly took the lid off of the box and pulled out a picture of Heero from a Preventer function they had attended together. He wore his dress uniform instead of a tuxedo, and looked none-to-happy about the fact that Relena made him pose for the photograph. She traced the lines of his face with her finger….

"Heero, hold still."

He frowned at her through the lens of her camera.

"Could you smile, please? Just this once?"

His frown deepened into a dark scowl.

She sighed. "You never smile…"

"And you never stop trying to make me smile."

    She handed the photo over to Hasado. "This is Heero. He was a friend of ours." She dropped her eyes to the floor." Someone who we cared for deeply."

    She watched him look the picture over. She had expected to see shock, or some sort of surprise upon his face. Instead, he stared at it as though the person in the photo was of no importance or little interest.

    Wufei's words replayed in her mind. 'What if his son, if Yuy even was his son, meant nothing and still means nothing to him?'

    "I'm sure you're wondering who he is." Relena clutched the box tightly to her chest.

    "He looks a lot like my son."

    "He is your son."

    Hasado scoffed and handed the picture back to her. "I can assure you, Miss Darlian, he is not."

    Her mouth dropped open. "I-I know this sounds unreal, but I can assure you the man in this picture is your son. We knew him by the name of Heero Yu--"

    "Miss Darlian, please." Hasado's voice was short and clipped as he spoke. "I should know better. I only have one son. And I'm not going to let anyone come into my home and try to tell me otherwise."

    Relena gaped at him. Was this man in denial? Did he even know that Heero was born? Wouldn't he have to?  

    Did he believe his son had died so he let that memory die with him? She had so many other thoughts, but never got a chance to express any of them. Wufei whipped out his gun and pointed it toward the hallway just as a strange, but familiar voice spoke up.

    "Don't you ever get tired of the lies, father?"
 

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     Wufei's eyes narrowed from the other end of his gun when Heero advanced into the room. Apparently, she hadn't told her guard of the resemblance between Heero and "Zanto". Hasado turned while still in his seat to face his son. "Zanto, I see you're still here."

    "I won't let you lie to her. It's time to admit what you've done." 

    Relena sat the box next to her and stood up as he approached them. "Hello again, Zan."   

    Heero winced when she said his 'name'. He'd heard her refer to his alter ego as Heero's brother. She hadn't yet realized…

    "I've done nothing wrong, boy. I've given you a life, one that you should have had."

    "This is not who I am." Heero glared at his father. "I told you that last night. My life is of my choosing, and I'm not ashamed of who I was. You took me away from what was important to me."

    "What life?" Hasado stood up and pointed at Relena. "A life of protecting this girl?"

    "Yes!" Heero looked over at the young woman he had once sworn his life to protect.

    Blue eyes widened and she gasped. He held her gaze as his voice fell to a gentler tone. "I promised her that much."

    "Oh, God." The picture in her hand slipped to the floor, and Relena looked like she might be next. Her hands shook, and her legs about collapsed underneath her when she sank back into her seat. Tears trickled down her cheek. "It... it can't be. This can't be happening." Relena squeezed her eyes shut.

    "Relena." Heero took a step toward her. Wufei moved to block his path.

    "I'm not a threat."

    The Chinese man narrowed his eyes but didn't move.

    "Wufei…" Heero tried to keep his voice calm, but his gaze kept darting over to the distressed woman on the sofa. He needed to talk to her. 

    Her guard kept his position between Heero and his charge. "Relena, this location is no longer secure. We're leaving."

    Heero tried to take a step forward, but Wufei's hand came up to rest on the holster of his gun. 

    "I am not a threat."

    "I don't know who you are, but as soon as the Foreign Minister's guard feels that her security may be at risk, for any reason—"

    "Your duty is to evacuate her to the nearest designated safe house. In most cases, her hotel." Heero finished the line for him; it was straight from the Preventer training manual.

    "She doesn't need this." Wufei finally turned to glance down at the minister. Her eyes were wide, vacant, and she was no longer crying. He frowned and knelt by her side. "Relena?"

    "She's in shock." Heero bowed his head and crossed his arms. "You should take her back. She looks like she hasn't been getting enough rest."

    Wufei passed a hand in front of her face. She didn't even blink. Her guard stood up. "She's been under too much stress lately."

    "She always was."

    The Preventer snarled. "I don't know who you are, but I know what you'd like her to believe."

    "I—"

    "Shut up. If you really cared about her, you'd back off. She's got enough to worry about with the trip to this colony, preparing for her wedding, and losing sleep over meeting your father." Wufei squared his shoulders and stared Heero straight in the eye. "You're playing the part, but you're nothing like him. He would never jeopardize her safety or well being for his own selfish reasons."

    Heero glanced back at Relena, and felt his heart rip in two. She was crying again; her face was buried in her hands, and her sobs wracked her entire body. He didn't consider, he hadn't even thought…

    She'd been living another life all this time - without him. He hadn't just been gone, she had thought he was dead, and had mourned for him. His loss. Their loss. 

    It hit him like a punch in the stomach. He closed his eyes and turned away.

    Apparently satisfied that Heero was at least no longer a threat, Wufei moved to Relena's side and carefully helped her to her feet. "Let’s go. We've overstayed our welcome here."

    Heero was frozen to his spot, unable to get Wufei's words out of his head, as the two left the house. 'Relena.'  He looked at the space on the couch she had occupied a moment before, and stared at the box for a good ten seconds or longer before it finally clicked that she had left her box of mementos behind. He quickly grabbed it, snatched the picture off the floor, and caught up with them just before Wufei was about to get into the limo.

    "Wufei." The Preventer faced him. Without speaking another word, Heero handed the box over to him.

    Wufei moved to climb into the limo, but stopped with his back still turned to his former comrade. "Meet me later, at her hotel. You should know where that is." He slid through the door into the back seat.

    Heero's eyebrows shot up, and he had to think a moment. The gateways to the information stored in his head were still rusty, slower than they should have otherwise been, but he nodded. Wufei shut the car door and knocked on the glass separator to signal the driver. The car pulled away, leaving Heero behind.

    He stared at the ground and clasped his hands together to keep from lashing out.

    How could he repair the damage that had been done? How could he set things right between them again?  And was the future they once had even a possibility anymore? Heero had no answers. He felt like he was drowning. People's lives had continued on while he was trapped in the tangled lie that his own father had woven around him. He was completely at a loss. And the one person he would have turned to, he couldn't burden. Relena had moved on as well.

    And she had a huge rock on her finger to prove it.